The present invention relates to a catalyst for producing an olefin from an alcohol and a method for producing an olefin using the catalyst. The present invention also relates to a polyolefin and an olefin oxide each of which is produced using, as a raw material, an olefin obtained by the foregoing method.
In the field of the recent production of chemical raw materials, for the purposes of suppressing the emission of carbon dioxide and preparing for drying up or a rise in prices of petroleum resources in the future, it is demanded to convert the chemical raw materials from petroleum-based resources into non-edible biomasses. In particular, there is required a technology capable of efficiently producing polypropylene that is a representative general-purpose resin, from bioethanol that is a biomass resource. As for a method for producing propylene from ethanol, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 1 describe methods using a zeolite catalyst having zirconium supported thereon.
Non-Patent Document 1: Catalysis Letters (2009) 131:364-369
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2010-202612